11. The Freedom Test

'Well that worked wonderfully, I have no idea who or what Helsik is, but it worked. I can now go to the academy I think. With no other teachers and a direct word from Fredryr himself. Not that they know its fake. I am secured.'

I walked beside my father as he goes back to his castle and now I was left woth some knights and my maids along with me.

"Did you get hurt Prince?"

"You could clearly see he is absolutely ok."

"But..-"

"Didn't you hesr the story, it wssn't an attack Claris."

"Ok..."

I went back to my mothers palace and was met by my mother and skster as soon as I came to the palace gates.

"Are you ok Ryu?!"

My mom rushed at me fast and hugged me and looked through out my entire body to check any damages.

And my sister stood behind her. I could clearly see her body shaking. 'Just what could make you be so cold hearted. You can just go back to normal you know.'

"Don't worry Queen Gaia, the Prince didn't take any damage."

Lacy explained everything on what happened to the forest. My mother and sister was relaxed after hearing this.

My mother carried me like I was still a baby and wouldn't let go of me the whole entire time.

And after a very long time, we once again had a family dinner. It was quite heart warming. It really felt too long, or maybe to them, this was the actual first time we even had dinner for my memory.

It really has been that long.

And at night, my mother even slept beside me. My sister looked like she wanted to just not do it, but made a lame excuse to actual sleep beside me too.

"I'll gaurd them, you can take your time off tonight."

My sister spoke to the knight who stays in front of my door to keep me safe at knight as an excuse for her to sleep with us.

'The excuse wasn't even made to us. Just how...'

I slept nicely that night.

***

It has been 3 days since the event in the forest. The explosion was used as a propaganda that the 36th Prince killed the weakened beast when it was barely escaping from it's seal.

The event was then named "Death Of The Monster" and the 36th Prince became popular when the masses had almost forgotten about him.

Ryu, continued his training with the sword snd his academic classes till the King decided he wanted to let Ryu live an actual real social life.

And so he decided that st the age of 6, that Ryu would join the Academy and his entire education plan for the next 8 years was scrapped.

And so... as Ryu dominated his own master at the sword, almost causing an uproar when Gordon was seen beaten up. And as the scholar Rakzil stopped teaching Ryu and started working with him with exploring and studying multiple organism and materials.

***

3 months later.

After Fredryr's death. Actual death and not the fake disappearance that I spread my entire life has changed from how it was just a couple months ago.

My daily routine has completely changed.

Because of the event of Fredryr, me, my mother snd sister all started eating together even if it was just once a week as a part of family bonding.

Though of course the King couldn't join, because that would be too contraversial if the King joined a simple dinner.

'Thats just how a royal life works.'

At the morning when I wake up, I join my sister from her early exercise and then later joins her at her sword training.

I then help her as much as I could to help her perform. After showing off that one time, I had absolutely no reason to hide my real abilities.

And as much as my sister sometimes seem annoyed I was helping her, I just wished she won't feel ill emotions towards me.

'Just why am I so fucking weak! Ahhhh!'

After training with my sister, I then train with Gordon, or more so just have him show me more sword arts and completely destroy him after perfecting it. And then he always comes back saying he has copied me too and made what I did better.

It was not really like any classes anymore, more like a man who is just stubborn and couldn't accept a lose.

'So like that rival that keeps coming back to challenge you, when you and everyone knows, you don't even treat him as a rival.'

"Heheehehe!"

"I'll come back again!"

After humiliating Gordon for the countless times, I then go to my Academic class with a teacher who gladly doesn't have inferiority complex.

The class didn't really teach me anything from existing sources... because I learn things that no one has ever learned before.

I study new things and make theories with Rakzil on a daily basis. I basically run a lab and research center rather thsn actually being a student.

And those things are definitely something s four year old could not do. But people got used to it after a while. Even Claris and Lacy sometimes help with our research.

Rakzil was definitely intelligent, just that the times knowledge was insufficient for Rakzil.

And so my days go like that. Until one day my father, the King visited me and told me about the Academy.

"Ryu, I could clearly see that you have achieved a lot of things a normal child could never even dream of achieving for their entire lifetime."

"..."

"And as much as I really want to send you to the Academy to learn magic there, I think you wouldn't even need it anymore."

Oh shit, my own achievements are biting me back in the ass. Is this why people hide their abilities? Oh fuck. I need to go to the academy because the mission was not any ordinary mission, but was a main mission. It just clearly meant if I don't do it, I die.

I had to go to the Academy even if it kills me.

"But father, shouldn't I need to even socialize with kids my age? And even if I have learned a lot of things I still have a lot of other things I could learn from the Academy."

"Well that is certainly true."

"See father."

"Well, I would first need to test you then."

"Test on what? Wasn't I already over qualified..."

My father went straight to me and attack me.

The king of an entire country would definitely not be an essy oppenent. But when I heard from Fredryr that no one could even match up to the 4th King... I really shouldn't have underestimated my father.

"Well what now my son."

I was thrown away.y father just bulldozed me to the wall crushing it. If I didn't block my body using magic I would have actually died with a body as small as mine.

"Father let's sto-"

He rushed once again, this time doing the same thing. And I wouldn't be caught off gaurd by the same attack twice.

'I'm not that weak father.'

Of course blocking him should not be the only thing that I should do. This is not a spar, but a fight.

I blocked my fathers entire body by forming a half sphere shield directed at him and encasing his upper body.

As I catched my father off gaurd I took advantage of my small stature making my body extremely wuick and made a sword out of magic and tried to cut his legs off.

But of course he wouldn't fall that easily. My father jumped. But mot backwards, he jumped forward.

"That was a dumb move father!"

As he leaped in the air, I moved the barrier that I used to blocked him to use as his landing instead of my body.

And as I moved while moving the shield itself far away from him. My father used the shield instead as a stepping ston to jump straight to me.

"Thst wouldn't work you know."

He once again came rushing at me with the same attack thrice. "Is he making fun of me?'.

I disintegrate the shield that became useless. And now I had to think further. In a battle the one who wins isn't the one who is more poweful, but the one who is smarter.

I had to predict everything he would do.

I placed a shield once again at the same shape as last time. This time it was perfect as he was heading here horizontally. I pushed the brarrier towards him and followed suit.

And as I predicted he broke the shield. But I didn't expect that he would break it woth just his mind. He then placed magic on his feet and jumped on it for more power. Then catching me off gaurd and hitting me.

'Am I really losing with such a basic tactic. What the fuck.'

I have no choice but to use everything I got to really defeat my father.

As the two of us are on the wall, before he could even recover, while at just a split moment before we completely hit a wall I telperted behind his back on top of him and aimed a mana blade on his neck.

But as I thought I had actually won, without me even realizing, instead of a blade on his neck I was standing with my hands raised and a blade at my neck as my father was sitting ln the ground.

"You win."

"Oh my God!"

I laid down on the floor exhausted. I thought I was about to die. That wasn't a fight meant for a child. Taking that much damage cause my entire body to feel so much pain. I thought I formed quite a nice physique already but of course a small body is still nothing.

"Well you passed my test. You can go to the Academy."

"Thank you father."

My father stood up but he didn't move, rather he stroke his chin and said.

"Though I did have a solution for a companionship for you if you failed... well I guess you can still have it."

"Have what father?"

"Your fiance."

And as I heard all those words, all I could do was blink my eyes twice and stare in shock.